amusebox | MCU AU: Jake/Thomas | Le Shipping & Things

Fandom: MCU AU
Pairing: Jake/Thomas
Category: Fluff
Rating: PG
Warning: Durr
Summary: Snuggles

It had taken a month for Thomas to stop pulling away at every small touch Jake gave him, done through simple persistence in Jake to keep at it until he eventually became used to it. Didn't stop tensing, but stopped squirming away immediately, at least. Jake hadn't taken any kind of offense to it. It was obvious Thomas had a predisposition in him against it, perhaps even some issues with it, considering how it seemed much more than simple discomfort in the way he almost cringed when strangers brushed shoulders with him, touched an arm, patted a shoulder. He'd even thought he'd seen him physically move around and out of the way of someone coming down a sidewalk just to insure there was a comfortable buffer of space between them. And that was fine - Jake didn't want Thomas to change. He liked him as he was, weirdnesses and all, but a perhaps selfish part of him wanted to be an exception to that rule. So he'd kept at it, bumping shoulders together, tossing a hand over his shoulders, putting a hand on his back to guide him around, ruffling his hair (the face he'd make was priceless), and brushing their hands against each other when the sat or walked close. Every moment long Thomas begrudgingly endured it, Jake took as a small victory, not brought down by the moments he'd jerk away automatically. After all, it was just Thomas being Thomas and Jake liked Thomas how he was.

It took two months for Thomas to be comfortable riding in Jake's car with him, but long walks here and there were a pain and Jake made a point to complain half the way over them. He'd still grip the handle on the door at every turn, still comment if Jake was going even a mile above the speed limit, and made small comments on the distaste for his music, but Jake merely smiled. It was enough he was there. If he wasn't doing all those things together, he wouldn't be Thomas.

It'd taken three months for Jake to build up the never to steal a kiss from him. And he was paid back with two weeks of being avoided, calls, texts and emails ignored. It would take an afternoon on into an evening of him talking to Thomas's apartment door to finally be allowed in to talk it over. And subsequently steal another before being shoved back out and told to have a mint next time. Stubbornness seemed to be Jake's saving grace most of the time, and he considered it fortunate he had it in droves.

The next two months were a roller coaster. Every other day, contact would stop for a week - any attempt to reach him blocked, and eventually Jake would find himself driving over at two AM to talk to Thomas's door again, to tell his he was beautiful, he was perfect as he was, to tell him that he wouldn't change anything about him if he could, that he enjoyed every second he spent with him even the ones talking to his door and he's not getting tired of him because if he considered this any kind of task he wouldn't be here. And that if he didn't let him in he'd start singing 80s love songs until his neighbors called the cops on him. The time between the instances would get longer, it wouldn't occur as often, perhaps, and weren't always over the same thing, because Lord knows they had plenty to bicker over. It became less frequent, but it didn't stop completely, and that was fine. Jake didn't expect it to. He didn't want perfect harmony and he didn't want to fix Thomas. He just wanted to be near him. To see every part of him and to give him the warmth and affection he inspired in him. Since he was the one that caused it, Jake thought it only appropriate he be the one to receive it.

After six months, they'd gotten into a habit of sleeping over on occasion. Not sex, just sleeping over. And not even on the same bed at first. Jake because very familiar with Thomas's couch and vise versa. It wasn't that Jake didn't want to be more physical, but he know the fears Thomas had, the apprehensions, the things in him that shut him down and just made him want to escape and he wouldn't dare push that on him. Things were easy, though. There would be movie nights and Jake would make stir fry (or sushi if he felt brave) - they'd sit on the couch and make idle commentary, and occasionally, even, Jake was allowed to slump against Thomas's shoulder, or slide down to flop against a pillow in his lap and pass out earlier. He'd wake up in the morning with a blanket tucked soundly around him and Thomas's cat pawing at his nose. Contact was still an issue, but it was becoming easier. If they were sitting beside each other, at first, it would just be a pinky curled around his. Eventually, he'd slip his hand over to cover Thomas's palm, and after a while, he'd laced his fingers through his and the lightest smile would play on Jake's lips. Holding him was different. Thomas would get nervous, claustrophobic, insecure. A simple hand at his back. An arm slung over his shoulders, later draped around his waist. He'd come up half behind him and tuck an arm over to lay over the top of his chest, palm flat over the front of a shoulder while his head rested on top of it, cheek bumping Thomas's. Eventually it wasn't terribly out of place for Jake to loop his arms up under Thomas's arms, hang them loosely around his hips and just slump affectionately against him, like a dog wanting attention. Jake was hardly perfect himself. He'd lose his temper sometimes - something about work, some kind of built up stress, some argument that had him snapping at Thomas. There'd be shouting and possibly leaving to go off on a stress relieving drive, but he'd usually come back with a non-fat caramel machiatto, a bag of fresh cherries, and possibly a new scarf with an apology on his lips and a kiss to Thomas's forehead to tell how very precious he is to him.

It was slow, but Jake liked it slow. It wasn't a struggle and it wasn't striving for anything. It wasn't that he was trying to wedge his way in between Thomas's apprehensions - instead more coming to learn those apprehensions, be around for them to slowly be revealed, an inkling of a source thought on and to give warmth and a tender hand if he became too unsturdy. Jake alone wasn't the easiest to be around either - he could be an emotional roller coaster at times, whipping from obnoxiously cheery and excited to dour and pissy later, all in their own extremes. Sometimes he would push too hard, more than Thomas was willing to humor or endure. Sometimes he was just plain annoying. Not to mention is lack of cleanliness didn't fit even close to well with the precise way Thomas kept his things.

It was a simple exploration of each other and the time and care made it all the sweeter. Jake had never really felt a want to know some one as much as he did Thomas, yet at the same time, his presence seemed as such a familiar, soothing thing. Even in tense or strained moments, or after arguments, he'd always felt somehow more at home knowing Thomas was somewhere in the same apartment than back in his own alone.

By the seventh month, they'd actually made it onto one mattress at night. They slept under two separate blankets, Jake in just boxers and Thomas in a long sleeve shirt and pajama pants, but Jake would slide over to wrap and arm around him regardless, tugging his comforter swaddled form over and tucking his nose against a shoulder. Sometimes Thomas would whine about being to warm or trying to sleep and elbow him away, but sometimes they would just drift off like that, the sound of Thomas's easy breathing slow and measured like a kind of therapeutic rhythm sending Jake off.

And in the morning, the sunlight would drift through the blinds and rouse him, finding Thomas still snoozing lightly in his arms, and there'd be a few moments where he could just watch him. Take in the curling mess of his bed hair, the part of his lips, the way his eyes moved under his eyelids as he dreamed. Eventually he'd break it, ready to get up and start the day with him, pressing soft, adoring kisses to his ear, his jaw, his cheek, but there would always be a few moments he'd simply lie beside him and enjoy his presence. Possibly even nuzzle into the back of his shoulder and drift back off, feeling the mild warmth of body heat snuggled into a layer of blankets next to him as a reassuring comfort.